Wenlock Edge |
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| Location Map |
Working Holiday Details
Wenlock Edge |
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| Location Map |
Date: 6th - 8th December 2002 |
| Location: Wenlock Edge, Shropshire |
| Basecamp: Big Mose - Dudmaston |
| The volunteers present: | National Trust | |
Lucy Kathryn Rebecca Sarah Vicky |
Tony (Leader) David David Robert |
Duncan (Wenlock Edge Asst. Warden) Dave |
The diversity of wild flowers and animals on Wenlock Edge depends on traditional coppicing techniques. For centuries the practice of cutting back young trees for burning and for hurdle making has let light through to the woodland floor.
| Tasks undertaken. | |
| For the weekend, our task was to undertake an area of
coppicing on part of the Wenlock Edge escarpment.
National Trust staff had previously been to the area and cut down the majority of the small trees in the coppice using a chain saw. Our job was to "process" this fallen timber and this involved a number of tasks. |
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The biggest task was to move the fallen trees off of the
very steep escarpment onto the track below. The warden staff advised us to
form a human chain and soon large quantities of wood were being passed
hand-to-hand down the hillside.
By clearing the coppice the woodland area would be much more attractive to Dormice and other wildlife. Also the movement of people over the area would disturb the dormant seed bed in the topsoil and so encourage growth, especially as now much more light would reach the ground. |
| From the fallen wood, products are prepared that can be
used by local craftsmen for hedge laying, this includes thick stakes for
confining a hedge and long thin pliable pieces of wood for tieing together
the tops of hedges.
The wood can also be used for hurdle making. Any large pieces of wood would be used for firewood. After extracting all of the useful products the rest of the wood was burnt on a large bonfire. |
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On the Saturday evening there was the feeling of a good
days work completed as we sat around the bonfire as darkness settled in
the wood.
Later, after a hot shower and a good meal the group went off to the local public house for some liquid refreshment. We had chosen an evening when there was "live" entertainment in the bar, but most of the songs were unknown to us! |
| On the Sunday morning we "volunteered" to
undertake an extra task.
Alongside one of the roads on Wenlock Edge an old metal wire fence had long since fallen down and had become covered in undergrowth. We worked in pairs to cut up and then extract the wire and mesh from the undergrowth so that the National Trust staff would be able to use mechanical tools on the vegetation at a later date. In our bright yellow jackets we were sure that nobody was going to get lost during this work. |
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We returned to the coppice and finished clearing the area
that had been cut down.
Some of the group also started to fell and clear some trees in an adjacent area. It is planned that the National Trust staff will fell a few of the larger trees at a later date in order to provide a viewpoint from the top of the escarpment over the beautiful surrounding countryside. |
The weather forecast for the weekend had been for very cold conditions and the possibility of snow. Well, the snow never arrived and the hard work and blazing bonfire ensured that nobody felt cold all weekend. This was a very enjoyable weekend during which we achieved a lot.
